Breech loading syringe for use with hypodermic medication cartridges



March 16, 1954 c. M. MELTON 2,672,142 BREECH LOADING SYRINGE FOR USEWITH v HYPODERMIC MEDICATION CARTRIDGES Filed Sept. 30. 1947 INVENTOR.CARL M. MELTON BY DES JARDINS, ROBINSON KEISER HIS ATTORNEYS PatentedMar. 1K6,

'third to Lessing B.

I-:NGE HY PODERMIC MEDICATION rl Melton, Louisvill FOR yUse kWITHCARTRIDGES e, Kyi, assigner of onen Newbur'g'e, Hamilton Harold M.Baron, administrator of said Lessing B. Newburger, deceased Appueatinseptember so, 1947,

lThis invention relates to comprising a syringe and a therefore, and theparts a nypoermic unit, medication cartridge kdonnarising the unit whichare separate articles of 'manufacture and sale but are readily assembledtogether for use. A hypodermic needlei's` assembled with the medicationcartridge and hernietically sealed to be placed in sealed condition inthe syringe with and as part of the Vmedication cartridge. The needle ishermetically sealed by a protective sheath of any suitable materialwhich facilitates insertion of the cartridge in the syringe and is notremoved until after assembly or insertion of the cartridge in thesyringe.

The invention not oniy comprises a unit which is simple in constructionand assembly and eiiicient in operation, but the medication car-- tridgeunit is prepared ready for use by sirnply inserting saine in the barrelof the syringe and then removing the needleproteetive she'at- The needleis included -with the medication car tridg'e and is hei'neti'eallysealed with the sheath which facilitates insertion of th'cartridge inthe syringe and is not removed until the syringe is loadethf Thus; boththe syringe and cartridge may be handled without contaminating theneedle. The cartridge, including the needle, is

of after application or' use or" the inedication, thereby also avoidingcontamination resulting from improper sterilization where the Sarreneedle is used repeatedly for applying more than one medication; Thetiine and trouble for sterilization of the needle for each applicationis avoided. Each cartridge` is Hcomplete with meditation and needle andwith the needle iuily protected for being handled without contamination.y Y

The syringe comprises a barrelv hinged to a holder for a plunger handleso that a cartridge may be readily inserted in and removed from thesheath or barrel when the syringeri's breeched by means of the hingedconnection between the barrel and the plunger handle holder. Abut= mentlmeans isprovidecl on the barrel to engage a portion of the cartridge asthe cartridge is spring pressed in the barrel by rneans on the head ofthe syringe. Finger holders vare disposed oppositely onk the plungerhandle holder so that' the syringe :nay be readily grasped formanipulation of the plunger handle to move the piston in the cartridgeas hereinafter described.

The cartridge has a transparent hollow tube with a needle mounted inoneeend-and a piston mounted` in the opposite end adjacent to the end ofthe plunger of' the syringe. A medication is 55 'serial No. 776.908

(Cl. 12K-218) The exposed end of the needle is covered with a shield orprotector having an open end, opposite a closed en d, to iit on aproiection which will herinetically seal the shield or protector for theneedle.

of the cartridge. Selective manipulation of the piston forwardorbackward by the user is i'rnportant in determining whether the needlehas or has not penetrated a vein of the patient, for the user mustpositively know that a vein has been penetrateduif an intravenousinjection isl to be given or that a vein has not `been penetrated if itis an intrainusel'ar injection.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-seaman view of' an embodiment of theinvention;

Fig'. 2 is a View showing the syringe being breeched for insertion ofthe cartridge;

Fig'. 3 is a cross-section on lines 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal eress-sctionai view of the medication cartridgeunit'.

Referring specicany to the drawigsin which like numerals areV used todesignate like parts, numeral 2 designates generally the syringe whichis composed of a tubular barrel 3 and the handle holder 4 pivoted at 5.

The' barrel 3 may be of' any material, 'preferably of non-corrosivemetal, with openings 6 in opposite sides. Ane end of the barrel 1sprovided with an inwardly extending ange or lug 1, preferably annularand also preferably integrally formed. The opposite end of the barrel iseben and unobstructed, and preferably has portions of the side edges outaway at 8 to be out of contact with the end of pressed member in afterdescribed.

The handle holder is hollow to provide a chamber l between one endhaving an inwardly extending flange Il and the opposite end having anoutwardly extending flange l2, the outer peripheral edge being knurledat I3. A ring I4, having oppositely disposed arms l5, is loosely mountedupon the outer wall of the handle holder adjacent the flange l2 andconfined by a nange IS. The spaced-apart flanges form a groovetherebetween within which the ring is loosely held so that it can beturned relatively to the handle holder.

A cylindrical bushing ll is fitted to slide within the chamber and has adiameter slightly less than the diameter of the bore of the cartridgetube so that the end of the bushing will iit within the end of the borein the hollow tube of the cartridge. The bushing is spring pressed by aspring I8 which normally holds the end of the bushing in the end of thebarrel 3 to axially aline same with the handle 9 which manipulates thehereinafter described piston of the cartridge. The end of the bushingalso abuts against the vcartridge Aand holds same tightly within theSyringe.

The handle has a plunger handle 9 or a spring the handle holderhereindetachable knob i9 on one end and a collar 2E! on its oppositeend. The collar has a screw-threaded socket 2l to be screwthreadedlyengaged with a stub shaft 22 which is anchored to the hereinafterdescribed piston of the cartridge. The handle is freely reciprocable inthe holder, and the collar to engage a shoulder 23 on the bushingwhereby the end of the bushing may be withdrawn from the barrel of thesyringe, against the compression of the spring, when the handle isretracted to its extreme position. A recess 23a may be formedadvantageously in the end of the bushing to receive the collar Zll whensame is retracted. Thus, the end of the handle will clear the end of thebarrel of the syringe when the syringe is breeched.

The cartridge comprises a tube 24, of any transparent material, such asglass or plastic, having a hypodermic needle 25 mounted in one end. Thismay be done conveniently by a resilient stopper 26, such as rubber,preferably having a portion 26a fitting into the end of the tube andprovided with a head portion 251). rlChe head portion, if there be anyhead portion on the stopper, abuts against the end of the tube 2li. Thestopper could be formed without any head portion, but the head ispreferable to protect the end of the tube and provide a cushion betweenit and ange ll. A hub projection 21 is mounted on the needle andprovided with a reduced portion 28 to project and tightly fit into theopen end of a protective sheath 29 for hermetically sealing the needle.This protective sheath may be of any suitable material, such as glass,plastics, or the like, and preferably transparent. The opposite end ofthe protective sheath is closed. The hub projection 2l may be of metal,rubber, plastic or any suitable material which will make a tight fitwith the sheath. There is also a head ao which may be a part of orseparate from the hub. This head is of sufficiently large diameter toseat upon the lug or flange 1 of the syringe barrel and is secured fastto the needle so that the needle cannot be pulled out of its mounting26. The head may be of any material but is preferably of rubber, andmore especially if the stopper 26 is not provided with an 2@ thereof isadapted 4 enlarged head 2Gb, to serve as a gasket together with orwithout the enlarged head of the stopper 25 between the lug and flange'i and the end of the tube 24 of the cartridge. These resilient parts,or either of them, allow for any tolerance so that the cartridge can betightly iitting.

A piston 36 is fitted into the opposite end of the tube 24 and has thestub shaft 22, screwthreaded on the exposed end, projecting from oneend. A medication is placed in the tube of the lcartridge between thepiston and the stopper or needle mounting.

The cartridge comes all prepared with the medication ready for use andneeds only to be inserted in the syringe and the guard sheath removedjust before use. The handle of the syringe is then forced forward andturned to engage the piston. The medication may be one to be usedintramuscularly or intravenously, and the handle is constructed to beturned to screw-threadedly engage it with the stub shaft on the piston,thereby permitting the piston to be retracted as well as pushed in. Aslight retraction of the piston, after insertion of the needle, willdisclose whether a blood vessel has been penetrated, for, if it has,blood will show in the medication through the transparent sheath. Thus,an intramuscular or intravenous injection can be positively made.

The unit permits complete sterile technique for hypodermic injections ofany material and eliminates the time and trouble for preparing keepingthe syringe sterile. Only one syringe needs to be carried by a doctor,which syringe be used repeatedly regardless of the medication involved.Different cartridges have different types of medication, any of whichcould be selected for use with the single syringe. A used cartridge isdisposed of after use, and a new one is inserted. Thus, there is nopossibility for contamination. The cartridges may be labeled foridentication as to the medication, and the proper ones may be selectedfor loading into the syringe for application.

The needle is not only combined with the medication cartridge but asheath therefor is employed to protect the needle and facilitateinsertion of the cartridge within the syringe. The medication, needleand shield comprise the cartridge unit which is assembled with theneedle hermetically sealed, the needle shield not being removed untilthe hypodermic injection is to be given.

The hypodermic medicating unit or cartridge is the subject of adivisional application.

While the invention has been described in detail, it will be understoodthat there may be changes in details of construction without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A hypodermic syringe comprising a barrel for holding a medicationcartridge, an abutment on the barrel against which the cartridge isadapted to seat, a plunger holder hinged to one end of the barrel, areciprocable plunger mounted on the holder, a slidable means carried bythe helder to fit in the end of the barrel and to engage the cartridgefor axially aligning said plunger and barrel and holding the cartridgein position, and means on the plunger for retracting the slidable meansout of engagement with said barrel.

2. A hypodermic syringe comprising a barrel for holding a medicationcartridge, an abutment on the barrel against which the cartridge isadapted to seat, a plunger holder hinged to one end of the barrel, areciprocable plunger mounted on the holder, a slidable means carried bythe holder to fit in the end of the barrel for axially aligning saidplunger and barrel and to engage the cartridge, a spring means fornormally holding the slidable means Within the end of the barrel andagainst the cartridge, and means on the plunger for retracting theslidable means against the spring.

3. A hypodermic syringe comprising a barrel for holding a medicationcartridge, an abutment on the barrel against which the cartridge isadapted to seat, a plunger holder hinged to one end of the barrel, areciprocable plunger mounted on the holder, a slidable means carried bythe holder to engage the barrel for axially aligning said plunger andbarrel, a spring means for normally holding the slidable means Withinthe end of the barrel and to engage the cartridge, means on the plungerfor retracting the slidable means against the spring, and means on theplunger for positively engaging the handle with a means carried by themedication cartridge.

4. A hypodermic syringe comprising a barrel for holding a medicationcartridge, said barrel having one or more openings in the Wall of thebarrel, an abutment on the barrel against which the cartridge is adaptedto seat, a plunger holder pivoted to the barrel adjacent one endthereof, a slidable bushing in the holder having one end adapted toproject in the bore of the barrel, spring means normally pressingagainst the end of the slide-ble means in the bore of the barrel, aplunger longitudinally movable in the holder in axial alignment with thebarrel, and means on the plunger to retract the slidable means from thehere of the barrel.

CARL M. MELTON.

References Cited in the le 0f this patent UNTED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,144,343 Benmosohe June 29, 1915 1,179,560 Reed Apr. 18, 19161,512,294 Marcy Oct. 21, 1924 1,504,618 Brockway Oct. 19, 1926 1,798,142Cressler Mar. 31, 1931 1,867,355 Fletcher July 12, 1932 1,909,591 NevinMay 16, 1933 1,971,687 Kratz Aug. 28, 1934 2,118,221 Montuori May 24,1938

